The adoption of photovoltaics for generating electricity from sunlight is largely driven by cost considerations. At present, photovoltaic systems are not competitive with fossil-fuel generated electricity. Thus, there is a need to reduce the overall photovoltaic system cost. In new developments of electronic components for consumer electronics, any cost saving measure is crucial for the competitiveness of the product. These factors entail reducing the costs associated with fabrication in both fields.
In solar photovoltaic (PV) panel production, the assembly of solar cells into a module is one of the key steps. Relatively small (500 micrometers or less) thin solar cells can be assembled into large arrays using mechanical and surface chemistry driven techniques. The details and associated cost of this assembly step is critical in determining the limitations of desirable solar cell size. For example, in pick-and-place assembly techniques, in which a machine is used to individually pick up, arrange and place each device on a substrate, the assembly costs are per device. When the assembly cost is per device, larger cell sizes (500 micrometers-1 mm) are desirable to reduce overall costs. Increasing cell sizes, however, increases the material costs and therefore offsets any reduction in assembly costs.